conversion

Review: The Electra Townie – Great For Comfort Electric Bicycle Conversions

Anybody who knows me also knows that I’m a big fan of DIY electric bicycles conversions over buying a retail electric bicycle. I love the freedom you get from starting with a blank slate and making all of your own decisions about parts and accessories without having to compromise for what the manufacturer thought you needed.

One of the biggest freedoms of building your own ebike is choosing the bicycle you start with. More than any other part, the bicycle you use is going to have the largest affect on how your ebike feels and rides. And for anybody looking for a laid back, comfortable cruiser-style ebike, look no further than the Electra Townie bicycle.

The Electra Townie is one of my favorite bicycles to convert into an electric bicycle. I’ve converted and worked on dozens of Electra Townie ebikes and each one has proven what a perfect bike it is for ebike conversions.

Allow to me to break down some of my favorite parts aspects of the Townie.

Comfort is king

Let’s be honest, if you’re already riding an electric bike then you’re probably not planning on pedaling as much as you do on a normal bike – or even much at all. In that case, finding a bike that is comfortable to sit on in one position without moving is very important.

The Electra Townie is in a class of bikes known as “crank forward” or “pedal forward” bicycles. This simply means that the pedals are located further forward than normal on the bicycle, which allows your feet to touch the ground while keeping your rear end firmly on the saddle.

Look how far forward the pedals are compared to the seat

Electra calls this “Flat Foot Technology” which to be honest makes it sound like more of a technological breakthrough than it really is; it’s simply changing the position of the pedals. But it does make a big difference in comfort.

With this riding style, you sit in a very upright position with your feet out in front of you instead of down below you. It’s more like sitting in a chair where your shoulders are back and chest is elevated, as opposed to the normal riding posture of a bicycle which has you hunched forward towards the handlebars.

“Flat Foot Technology” at work

Not everyone will find this seating position comfortable, but most people consider it a major improvement even if it takes a few days to get used to.

The crank forward design will change the handling of the bike if you’re used to riding a mountain bike or road bike. Unlike other more traditional bicycle designs where you lean out over the handlebars and have twitchier, more sensitive steering adjustments, the Townie is a slow-and-steady type of ride. To me it almost feels like I’m in a boat and controlling the rudder. Steering is a slower, smoother experience.

For that reason though, the Electra Townie makes a better comfort cruiser bike than a mix-it-up-with-cars-in-traffic type of bicycle, so it really depends on your preferences and specific needs. When I’m commuting in the city, I prefer my mountain bike as I can cut through the cars and traffic nimbly. But when I’m cruising along the beach roads and out for pleasure rides, the Electra Townie gives a much more laid-back and enjoyable riding experience. The difference is striking.

The Electra Townie has room for everything

One of the biggest problems with DIY electric bicycle conversions is finding room to put everything, especially the battery. I like to build my own batteries so that they can fit any custom space on a bicycle frame, but not many people do that yet. Instead, the majority of DIY ebike conversions use off the shelf batteries. These retail ebike batteries generally come in a fairly boxy shape that can make it difficult to fit them in a bicycle frame. Even on bikes with fairly large front triangles, it can be hard to squeeze a decent-sized four cornered battery into a three-legged frame triangle.

Even with an Electric Rider triangle bag there’s still room to spare!

But this has never been an issue for me with the Electra Townie. Its front frame triangle (or quadrilateral, I guess) is gigantic! I’ve never seen an ebike battery that wouldn’t fit in there! With my custom packs I could probably stuff enough battery into that frame to ride from Los Angeles to San Francisco on a single charge!

But not only that, the long frame has room for all sorts of bags, racks, panniers and other storage possibilities. Combine that with the roomy handlebars for bar-mounted accessories and you’ve got more room than you could dream of for loading your ebike full of accessories.

Big on space, small on the scale

The Townie isn’t a small bike by any means, probably about a foot (30 cm) longer than most bikes, but it isn’t terribly heavy like you might expect. Thanks to its lightweight 6061-T6 aluminum frame, it only tips the scales at about 28 lbs (13 kg). Now that’s no featherweight, but it’s definitely lighter than other bikes of this size.

That aluminum frame allows the bike to be as large as it is and offer such a comfortable riding position without making it a beast to haul around. It’s not going to turn the corner into your studio apartment any easier, but it might just make carrying it up the stairs a possibility.

A seat you don’t have to throw away!

I don’t know about you, but I need a good seat on my electric bicycles to keep my tuchus happy and complaint-free. That usually means getting rid of whatever tiny stock seat came with a bicycle and replacing it with something bigger and more comfortable. But not with the Townie!

The Townie comes with a great seat right out of the box! It’s wide, molds to your own, ummm, special shape? …and it has suspension built right into it to smooth out any bumps in the road. Finally a bicycle with a seat that doesn’t need immediate replacing!

Good (enough) quality components

One of the best things about the Electra Townie is the price, usually around $400-$500 depending on where you live. How do they keep the price relatively low while offering such a great bike? Partly by not breaking the bank on components. The Townie comes with everything you need and nothing you don’t. The components themselves are quite good even though they aren’t necessarily the top-of-the-line parts in any category. But that’s ok! We’re building a comfort ebike here, not a record-setting speed demon!

The Townie comes with good quality Shimano shifters and gears, and linear pull brakes that will be more than strong enough to bring you to a comfortable stop at any normal speeds. If you plan on regularly doing 30 mph or more then you might want to consider a frame with disk brakes, but most comfort ebikes built on a Townie base will have more than enough quality braking power with the stock linear pull rim brakes.

The stock tires are great for cruising along any paved paths, whether you prefer roads or sidewalks. I wouldn’t do any serious off-roading with them (or this bike in general) but if you need to wind your way down a gravel or sandy path to reach your secret beach spot, these tires will get you there.

Looks aren’t everything, but they don’t hurt!

I’m just going to say it, I think the Townie is a sexy bike. I like the long, flowing lines, the color combinations offered, the frame geometery – it all works together so well. The designers of the Townie really paid attention to the details and it shows. Even simple things like the internally routed brake and shifter cables help to add to the clean, polished look of the Townie. The bike is simply a beautiful piece of design from so many different angles.

Beautifully routed internal cables

And the kicker is that performing an electric bicycle conversion on the bike doesn’t ruin it! If you take the extra time to run your wires internally through the holes in the frame already created for the shifter and brake cables then you won’t even have to zip tie them to the frame. A hub motor or mid drive motor is easily hidden in comparison to the large frame, and the front triangle is so large that batteries look small and well contained inside of it!

Electric and still beautiful

There are a lot of good looking bicycles out there, but there are only a few that retain those good looks even after a DIY ebike conversion. The Townie is definitely one of them.

And all around great quality bike

If I had to describe the Electra Townie in one sentence, I would say that it’s simply an all around great quality, comfortable bicycle.

Granted, it may not be the best in any single category. You could spend a few hundred dollars more and probably find an even more comfortable bicycle, or shave a few pounds off the total weight, or include disk brakes, or this or that, etc etc etc. But the point is that for an affordable price the Townie is already a great bicycle in so many different regards.

Do you own an Electra Townie bicycle? Tell us about it in the comments section below! And if you’ve electrified it, consider adding it to the International Ebike Garage as well!

Image credit 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,

How To Install Hub Motor Washers

Hub motors often come with a pile of odd looking washers. It can be confusing to determine exactly what each is for and how to install them.

However, installing these washers properly is crucial, because failure to do so can easily lead to damaging the bicycle or the motor. If the motor were to work its way out while riding due to improper installation, you could find yourself in a very dangerous situation. But don’t worry, this can all be avoided with a little education on hub motor hardware.

Hub motor hardware

Let’s start by taking a look at the diagram above with the different types of hardware that might come with your hub motor. Every hub motor should come with a minimum of axle washers, torque washers and axle nuts. Many come with spacer washers as well.

Axle washers are simply flat washers with a hole either 12 or 14 mm in diameter allowing them to slip over the axle of the hub motor. These can be placed anywhere on the axle, but generally go inside of the dropout and are the first type of washer placed on the axle.

Spacer washers are thicker than standard flat axle washers, usually 2-5mm thick. They also generally have a non-uniformly circular hole, as seen in the diagram above. These can go anywhere on the hub motor axle and are used when extra space needs to be filled. The most common uses are when the dropouts are too wide and thus the spacer washer goes inside of the dropouts, or when a torque arm needs to sit further away from the dropout, and thus the spacer washer sits outside of the dropouts.

Torque washers are used either in addition to, or in place of torque arms. They have a tooth that sits down in the dropout and helps apply the torque of the motor further from the center of the axle. The further away the force from the torque is applied, the smaller the magnitude of the force. For small geared motors of 500 watts or less, torque washers are usually sufficient. For direct drive motors of 750 watts or greater, torque arms may be required depending on the bicycle’s dropout material and design.

Axle nuts go on the outside of the dropouts and are the last thing to be placed on the axle. They secure the axle in the dropouts by keeping a constant force against the bicycle. Most axle nuts should be torqued to at least 25 newton meters. If you don’t have a torque wrench, a good strong turn on a 6 inch wrench is plenty. Some hub motors can have their axle threads strip when the axle nuts are torqued over 50 newton meters. This often occurs when someone uses a long wrench and really tries to tighten down hard. The nuts should be closed tightly, but you don’t need to overly exert yourself.

Installation of hub motor washers

When you install your hub motor, start with an axle washer up against the shoulder of the hub motor’s axle. This washer will go inside the dropouts and give a larger surface than the axle’s shoulder to clamp against the inside of the dropouts. There should be an axle washer on both sides of the hub motor axle, inside the dropouts.

Next, if the hubmotor slips into the dropouts easily and there remains extra room for the axle washers to move up and down the length of the axle, you may need to install a spacer. One or two millimeters of wiggle room is generally ok and can be removed when you tighten the axle nuts, but any more than two millimeters can cause chain or disc brake clearance problems and overly stress aluminum frames.

If you have extra room on your axle due to extra dropout width, either use a spacer washer or a torque washer on the inside of the dropout. This should take up the extra space on the axle and may even require you to spread the dropouts slightly to slide the motor axle down into the dropouts.

If you don’t have extra room on the axle, your torque washer can go on the outside of the dropouts. The important thing to note with a torque washer is that the tooth must be down in the dropout for it to work effectively. This is rarely an issue with 12 mm torque washers, but sometimes the tooth on 14 mm torque washers sits up too high. If this is the case in your setup, just take a hammer and lightly tap the tooth back down. Sometimes it helps to use the blade of a cold chisel or an old flat head screwdriver (that beat up flat head screw driver you keep around for prying things would be perfect) to transfer the force of the hammer directly to the tooth of the torque washer.

Lastly, add your axle nuts on the outside of the dropouts as the last piece of hardware on the axle. Tighten them down securely but don’t over torque them. As mentioned above, a good strong turn on a 6 inch wrench is plenty for most hub motors.

Keep in mind that this isn’t the only correct way to order your hardware. The important points here are that there is a washer up against the hub motor axle’s shoulder inside the dropouts, that the torque washer’s tooth is in the dropout gap, and that the axle nut is closed from the outside. This could also be accomplished by placing the torque washer on the axle first with the tooth facing out, then the axle nut on the outside of the dropout. This way the torque washer acts like the first axle washer in the images above by distributing the force of the hub motor axle’s shoulder against the inside of the dropout while simultaneously working like a normal torque washer by applying the torque load further from the center of the axle. In this scenario, there would only be two pieces of hardware used: the torque washer inside the dropouts and the axle nut outside the dropouts.

Torque arms

Torque arms protect your motor and frame similar to the way torque washers do, by resisting the rotational moment about the axle. However, torque arms are much stronger than torque washers. I wrote a whole article about torque arms, so I suggest starting with that as a primer if you don’t know if you need a torque arm or not. To summarize, if your hub motor is going in an aluminum fork, aluminum dropouts and/or your hub motor is over 1,000 watts, you likely need a torque arm.

A torque arm is almost always installed outside of the dropouts and before the axle nut. It is usually connected to the either the dropouts with strong glue or bolts, or to the frame with hose clamps. Here you can see a torque arm being included on the same example bike.

In conclusion

As you can see, installing your hub motor washers isn’t rocket science. The important factors are:

A washer is inside the dropouts against the shoulder of the hub motor axle
A torque washer is installed with the tooth inside the dropout gap
A torque arm prevents the axle from rotating in the dropout (optional depending on system)
An axle nut secures the axle from the outside

As long as those conditions are met then you should be good to go. Just remember to reinstall the washers in the correct order if you ever remove the wheel to fix a flat tire. This is especially important if you take your ebike to a local bicycle shop for a repair because most bike shops are not familiar with ebikes and might unintentionally reinstall the motor incorrectly. Always verify that your washers are correctly ordered and aligned.

photo credit 1

Why Buy An Ebike? Build A Do It Yourself Ebike Instead!

Buying a commercially available retail electric bicycle is a great way to get going quickly and enjoy the immediate gratification of getting around on an ebike. However, converting your own bicycle into an ebike comes with many advantages over buying a retail ebike. Some of the best reasons to go with a do it yourself ebike include:

saving money
more opportunity for customization
better quality parts
using your own bicycle
getting the pride of commuting on your own sweat and labor!

Save money with a do it yourself ebike

So how can building a do it yourself ebike from an electric bicycle kit save you money over a retail ebike? When you buy retail, you aren’t just paying for the ebike, you’re actually covering all of the research, development, design, fabrication, assembly, marketing, shipping, storage, markup and overhead that goes into getting that retail ebike out of the store.

When you decide to convert your own standard bicycle into an electric bicycle, you cut out all of that extra stuff and just pay for the ebike parts themselves. That’s why you can actually get the same parts used on a $2,000 electric bicycle for a quarter of the price.

Electric bicycle conversion kits and individual ebike parts are available all over the internet, mostly coming from Chinese suppliers, though sometimes resold by American companies, such as Electric Rider and Clean Republic, which offer better service than trying to deal with most Chinese suppliers. You can even get electric bicycle conversion kits on Amazon, delivered quickly right to your door!

By choosing exactly the parts you want and not paying for extra accessories or specs of a retail ebike that you don’t need, you can save even more money. Usually a complete electric bicycle conversion kit is the best way to go if you want a great deal, but sometimes you can actually find a better price by shopping around and buying parts from different suppliers.

I also highly recommend checking out the “for sale” sections of the ebike forum Endless Sphere for some great deals. People are always selling both brand new and used ebike parts. Sometimes you can pick up a battery with just a few charge cycles on it for half of what it costs new. I’ve built whole ebikes from parts acquired through Endless Sphere. There’s also a great post on recommended vendors. Electric bicycle conversion kits are really easy to install on a bicycle too. They’re specifically designed for absolute beginners so that pretty much anyone can convert a bicycle into an electric bike.

Gain control when building your own ebike

When you choose your own parts, you have total control over the performance of your ebike. This applies more to choosing parts individually, but even buying a complete electric bicycle conversion kit is a great way to go. There are so many different kits out there that it is definitely possible to find something for everyone, with speeds from as low as 12 mph (20 km/hr) up to 35 mph (56 km/hr) or even faster.

The kit you choose will largely depend on your own desires. Are you looking for an around the town grocery-getter or a hot rod that can beat cars at traffic lights? Both options are entirely possible with different ebike conversion kits available all over the internet. Planning out your build with the right parts for you and then choosing the best vendors is something I cover extensively with many chapters in my book.

A do it yourself ebike means a better bicycle

Another great reason to do your own electric bicycle conversion is that you can start with a much better quality bicycle than standard retail ebikes. A dirty secret of the industry is that many ebike manufacturers skimp on the quality of the actual bicycle, including the frame and components like brakes and shifters, so that they can try to bring the price down enough to draw in consumers. By converting a bicycle yourself, you’re already saving a bunch of money, so why not put some of that back into a better quality bike?

There’s a good chance you’ve already got a great bike just gathering dust in your garage or basement, why not convert your bike into an ebike? Or you can get a bike that you really like from a local bike shop and start the conversion on your new bike. This way you can be sure that you are using a bike you already know and love, instead of settling for whatever frame and components the ebike manufacturer chooses for cost reasons.

Be proud of building your own electric bicycle!

The last and perhaps best reason for converting your own bicycle to electric drive is simply the sense of accomplishment you’ll feel. I get a great feeling every day when I commute on my ebike, knowing that I’m doing a good thing for the environment by foregoing a car (I haven’t owned one in 6 years since I built my first ebike) and that I’m also commuting on something I built with my own two hands. It’s not that difficult to convert a bicycle into an electric bicycle, but the sense of accomplishment you feel will last as long as the ebike, and perhaps longer!

photo credit 1

What is a Torque Arm and Why Do I Need One

A torque arm is an extra piece of support metal added to a bicycle frame to more securely hold the axle of a powerful hubmotor. But let’s back up and get some more perspective on torque arms in general to learn when they are necessary and why they are so important.

Many people choose to convert a standard pedal bicycle into an electric bicycle to save money over purchasing a retail ebike. This is a great option for a number of reasons and is surprisingly easy to do. Many manufacturers have designed simple ebike conversion kits that can easily bolt onto a standard bicycle to convert it into an electric bicycle. The only problem is that the poor guy that designed your bicycle planned for it to be used with lightweight bike wheels, not giant electric hub motors. But don’t worry, that’s where torque arms come in!

Torque arms are there to help your bicycle’s dropouts (the part of the bike that holds onto the axles of the wheels) resist the torque of an electric hubmotor. You see, normal bicycle wheels don’t apply much torque to the bicycle dropouts. Front wheels actually don’t apply any torque, so the front fork of a bicycle is designed to simply hold the wheel in place, not resist its torque while it powers the bike with the force of multiple professional cyclists.

Rear wheels on standard bicycles traditionally do apply a small amount of torque on the dropouts, but not more than the standard axle bolts clamped against the dropouts can handle.

Torque arms add strength to weaker bicycle frames

drawings courtesy of Grin Technologies (ebikes.ca) and used with permission

When you swap in an electric hub motor though, that’s when torque becomes an issue. Small motors of 250 watts or less are usually fine. Even front forks can handle the low torque of these hubmotors. Once you start getting up to about 500 watts is when problems can occur, especially if we’re talking about front forks and even more so when the material is weaker, as in aluminum forks.

In this case a torque arm is required to resist the torque of the hub motor. Torque arms come in all shapes and sizes. Some are mass produced, one-size-fits-most styles that slide over the axle of the motor and then clamp or bolt into the bicycle frame, offering a firm connection to the bicycle further away than the surface of the axle.

Other torque arms are custom jobs made by guys and gals in their garages, specifically suited to their own bikes and motors. The one thing all these torque arms have in common is that they grip the flat part of the motor axle and connect to the bicycle frame in a sturdy way to help resist that torque from forcing open the dropouts.

Gasp! Do I need a torque arm?!

So when do you need a torque arm? Well, the short answer is that it’s better to be safe than sorry and that a torque arm will always help. Practically speaking though, there are a few factors that will tips the scales in favor or against the need for a torque arm.

First of all, if you are buying a retail, commercially available electric bicycle then you don’t need to worry about a torque arm. The ebike’s designers will have already included one, if necessary, or more likely will have designed the bicycle to be a purpose built ebike with strong enough dropouts to not require a torque arm.

If you are doing your own electric bicycle conversion though, you might need a torque arm depending on the type of bike and power level of the motor.

As mentioned above, front and rear mounted hubmotors have different requirements. A front fork is usually much weaker than the rear dropouts. This means that front hub motors are more likely to require a torque arm than rear motors.

Next, frame material plays a big factor. Steel is a stronger material than aluminum and resists bending easier. That means if you have steel dropouts combined with a rear hubmotor, you’re in a much better position than a front aluminum fork.

Lastly you have to consider the power of the motor. Like we discussed above, 250 watts or less should be fine in nearly any steel or aluminum dropout without torque arms. 500 watts is about the limit you’d want to put in rear aluminum dropouts without a torque arm. If you have a 500 watt motor in the front, especially if you have an aluminum fork, you’ll want to use a torque arm. 750 watts or above should almost always use a torque arm, even in the rear of the bike, even in steel. Generally speaking, 750 watts in rear steel dropouts will probably be fine, but it’s getting near the limit. That’s why we recommend 750 watts or above, using a torque arm.

Torque arm specifics

Three main factors control the effectiveness of torque arms, so you’ll want to pay close attention to these when buying or making your own torque arms. First is the material choice. Look for stainless steel torque arms if possible. These will be even stronger than the mild steel or aluminum that your bike frame is made out of.

Next, thicker is better. Always. You want as much meat gripping that axle as possible. Try to find a nice thick torque arm. I’ve seen thin torque arms simply cut a slit around the axle and still allow it to spin, damaging the bicycle and motor. A quarter inch (0.635 cm) is a good torque arm thickness to aim for. Even thicker is better, of course.

Lastly, the further away the torque arm mounts to the bike, the better. A one inch long torque arm is good, two inches is better, and three inches is better yet. The further from the axle that the torque arm mounts to the frame, the more force it can resist.

Good torque arms won’t be cheap. Don’t expect to spend less than $15-20 a piece for a decent stainless steel torque arm. The good news is that you can find them all over the internet from many reputable sellers including for between $9-$38 from ebikes.ca (one of the best electric bicycle parts vendors in North America) which are also available to order even easier from Amazon, including a front torque arm here and a rear torque arm here, or for $25 from Electric Rider for a beefy Crystalyte torque arm.

If you’re in a pinch or you really want to make your own, a 10 mm spanner wrench makes a surprisingly good torque arm. Just make sure the wrench doesn’t somehow interfere with the axle nuts closing firmly.

When in doubt, use a torque arm

Torque arms are there to save your motor and your bicycle. The cost of not using torque arms when you should have is quite high: often a destroyed motor and/or destroyed bicycle frame. You can avoid this tragic end by making sure you’ve got the right tools for your ebike build, including knowing when to use a torque arm.

photo credits 1, 2, 3

Ebay Electric Bicycle Converstion Kits: Are They Worth It?

Electric bicycle conversion kits are made by dozens of manufacturers and sold by hundreds of vendors. Some of the best prices on these kits can be found on eBay. But are eBay electric bicycle kits a good way to get a deal or a good way to get ripped off?

The answer is probably a little bit of both, but with a little research you can make sure you fall on the ‘good deal’ side of things.

It’s important that you know what you are looking for. Many vendors on eBay simply resell ebike conversion kits without knowing much about what they have. This often leads to mislabeled merchandise and misunderstandings between buyers and sellers.

Other sellers may have an understanding of their ebike kits but still incorrectly list the details, usually in regards to the correct wattage of the kit. Always make sure you check with the seller to confirm the specs of the kit. Pay close attention to max controller current to give you an idea of what kind of power the motor will be providing.

Many eBay electric bicycle kits come with inferior rims and spokes. This can be tricky to determine without seeing the kit in person. Although almost all sellers will list “stainless steel spokes”, there is a wide spectrum of stainless steel spokes ranging from junk to really good quality spokes, so it can be a bit of a crapshoot. At the end of the day though, unless you’re going to be using your ebike for commercial use, even lower quality stainless steel spokes should hold up to average day-to-day use.

The seller should also list the type of rim on the motor (if this is a hubmotor kit). Look for “double walled aluminum rims” in the listing. Again, there is a spectrum of quality for rims, but if you don’t see double walled rims listed, that should be a bad sign. Ask the seller to be certain. If the kit comes with single walled rims, walk away. That’s already a sign of a low quality kit. Any self respecting ebike kit vendor will put their motors on double wall aluminum rims.

Double wall rim on left, single wall rim on right

Controllers in eBay electric bicycle kits are almost universally low to mid-level quality. They are made with components that often can’t stand up to extended high power usage. If you want to use your ebike for heavy duty use, like making deliveries all day up and down hills, an eBay controller might not be for you. If you plan on using your bike for flat, level ground cruising at speeds of 25 mph (40 km/h) or less, or the occasional medium level hill climbing, there’s a good chance that the ebike controller will be enough for you. If you live in a super hilly area or want to obtain higher speeds, you’re taking a gamble that the controller could burn out on you when you need it most.

Lithium batteries from eBay can be hit or miss. Most eBay electric bicycle kits don’t come with batteries, requiring you to pick them up separately. Sometimes the same seller will also stock ebike batteries, but there are many other ebike battery sellers on eBay. One well known seller is sun-thing28. He provides good quality LiFePO4 batteries and has done so long enough for the ebike community to vouch for him.

Other components found in the kit, such as throttles, pedal assist systems, displays, e-brake levers and lights are usually of adequate quality. These are pretty much all made to the same standards in a few factories in China before being sent to a million different vendors, so kits of varying quality and price levels may have some of the same throttles, displays, etc.

The main parts you should be double checking are the motor, rim, controller and battery. This is where you’ll be able to determine (hopefully) the quality of the kit and whether or not you are going to be happy with the purchase. Like everything else on eBay, you should always read reviews of the seller’s past transactions and check his or her feedback rating. A scammer or vendor with subpar ebike kits will likely not have a good feedback rating. Anything less than 98% positive feedback should give you grounds to worry.

Ebay Electric Bicycle Kits: What’s The Verdict?

With a sharp eye and patience to ask all the right questions, low and medium power electric bicycle conversion kits can be found for a steal on eBay. These are especially well suited for moderate speed ebikes that are going to be used for easy, around the town riding and speeds up to about 25 mph (40 km/h). For anything more powerful though, you’ll need to look for better quality vendors than what you’ll find on eBay. It is still safe to say that for most of the ebike population, eBay electric bicycle kits will meet your goals and produce an excellent and fun electric bicycle.

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Choosing the Right Bicycle for an Electric Bicycle Conversion

A quality, hard tail mountain bike great for an electric bicycle conversion

Choosing the right bicycle for your electric bicycle conversion is important to making sure that your ebike is comfortable and fits you well. If you already have a bicycle that you enjoy and are ready to electrify it, then you’re all set! If not, you’ll need to begin the search for the right bike for you.

Start At A Bike Shop

A great place to start is your local bike shop. Talk to them about what you’re looking for in terms of size, style and features. They can help you find a bike that fits well, but it will be up to you to make sure it is appropriate for an electric bicycle conversion (we’ll talk about what that means below). Even though ebikes are becoming more popular, most bike shop employees, especially in the United States, are unfamiliar with electric bicycles and may even scoff at the idea of you taking a ‘perfectly good’ bicycle and making it electric. Just don’t be deterred!

There are certain items that you’ll want to look for in a bike to make sure it is appropriate for an electric bicycle conversion. First, make sure you’re looking for a strong frame with beefy dropouts, the place where the bike holds the wheels’ axles. The best bikes for electric conversion are steel bikes with steel dropouts. Aluminum bikes are ok, but will usually require an additional torque arm to strengthen the dropouts. Ironically, cheaper steel bikes often have stronger dropouts than some more expensive aluminum bikes, therefore this is one feature that you can’t necessarily judge purely by the price.

Think About Your Brakes

Disc brakes are great for an electric bicycle conversion

Disc brakes are best on the front of an ebike

You’ll also want to pay special attention to the brakes. Brakes on an electric bike are much more important than a regular pedal bicycle because you’ll be traveling at higher speeds much more frequently. Think of it as the operational equivalent of riding a normal bike down a big hill 100% of the time.

There are two main types of brakes, rim brakes and disc brakes. Disc brakes generally require less frequent maintenance and can provide stronger braking force, but come with their own downsides as well. They can be harder to change when the pads are worn down and can also complicate the installation of a hubmotor.

Disc brakes aren’t a necessity though. Rim brakes have been used for years and have been proven to be strong and effective. The fastest race bicycles use rim brakes, proving that you don’t need to upgrade to disc brakes just to get good braking performance. More important than disc vs rim brakes is the quality of the brake parts and the brake pads.

Some bicycles have disc brakes in the front and rim brakes in the rear. This is a very good compromise for electric bikes because it puts the stronger brakes up front where more braking force is needed but leaves the rear wheel, which is more often converted to a hubmotor, uninhibited. Sometimes disc brakes can complicate the installation of a hubmotor, so going with rim brakes on the wheel that will be electrified is a good method.

When you buy your electric bicycle conversion kit, make sure you choose a front wheel or rear wheel ebike kit that is appropriate for your specific type of brakes. For example, if you have rear disc brakes and also want a rear motor, choose an electric bicycle conversion kit with a motor that specifically states “disc brake compatible” to ensure that it works with your bike.

If you are buying a new bike, your brakes should already be dialed in for maximum performance. If not, take it back to the store and ask them to adjust the brakes to your satisfaction. If you are using an older bike that you already own or are buying a used bike, you’ll want to either tune the brakes yourself or take the bike to a bike shop to have the brakes checked out. Learning to do your own brake adjustments will be an important skill to have though once you start riding your ebike frequently.

Suspension: Nice But Not A Requirement

Electric bicycle conversions with good rear suspension feel like you're riding on a cloud, a powerful speeding cloud

If you choose a bicycle with suspension, make sure you understand how it works. Cheap suspension bicycles are often worse than a non-suspension bicycle, so keep that in mind. Rear suspension can also limit your options for installing the battery. Make sure you plan ahead if you are starting with a rear suspension bike.

Higher quality and better designed suspension forks will have a knob on the top of the fork to adjust the damping and/or travel of the suspension. Rear suspensions will also be adjustable, though the mechanism will differ from bicycle to bicycle. You’ll need to check the manual for your specific bicycle.

If this is your first ebike, you may be better off starting with a bicycle without suspension as it will greatly simplify the build process, not to mention be a lot cheaper as well! Just because this might be your first electric bicycle conversion doesn’t mean it will be your last – you’ll have plenty of time for upgrades to make your ebike perfect for you.

Don’t Judge A Bike By The Sticker Price

The most important thing to remember is that whatever bike you choose, make sure it has a strong frame and beefy dropouts. A $150 steel frame department store bicycle can actually be more appropriate for electric conversion than a $1,500 lightweight aluminum bike. Never use a carbon fiber bike for an ebike conversion. The frame usually isn’t over-engineered enough to take the extra stresses applied to ebikes, plus it’s kind of be a waste of a very expensive, purpose-built racing bike. If you can picture someone in spandex pedaling the bike in a race pack, then it’s probably not the best bike to electrify.

At the end of the day, the most important factor is simply whether or not you find the bike comfortable. You will be spending a lot more time on the saddle and a lot less time pedaling, as compared to a normal bicycle, so make sure everything feels good. Consider upgrading the saddle, as it’s the cheapest way to greatly increase the comfort of a bicycle.

Once you’ve chosen the right bicycle for your ebike conversion, get ready. You’re about to head down an amazing, life-changing road to electric commuting. Hold on to your hat!

photo credit 1,2,3